Shark attacks canoe paddler in Hawaii

KHON2 Local News (video below) is reporting that Tom Bartlett’s one-man canoe was severely damaged by shark off Kauai’s south shore.

The shark bit his vessel twice about a half mile offshore on Tuesday just before 3 p.m.

Tom Bartlett said by phone:“Startling to see a shark with its jaws open latched on to the front of the boat. I tried to swing at but I was too far back. Then it came around and hit the right side of the boat about a foot in front of the foot well, again you know open jaw. I think I got it with the paddle.”

The veteran canoe paddler doesn’t know what type of shark bit his canoe or how large it was. He says teeth marks show the animal’s jaw measured 13-inches wide.

He was with six other paddlers who were unaware he’d been hit. His canoe immediately started taking on water. Bartlett said: “The boat is slowly going down deeper and deeper and it submarining. I was just on the surface of the water basically.”

He eventually reached shore near Palama Beach and carried his canoe through coffee fields to a sub-division where he called for help. By then friends had called 911 but he was safe.